The court in Yaroslavl upheld another police claim against the ex-head of Navalny’s local headquarters

The Tutaevsky City Court of the Yaroslavl Region upheld the claim of the Ministry of Internal Affairs against the former head of Navalny’s regional headquarters, Alexander Smirnov. This was reported by Apology of Protest with reference to lawyer Arkady Shindyapin.

The court ordered the activist to pay 448,810 rubles in compensation for the work of the police during the January 31 rally in support of Navalny in Yaroslavl.

Initially, the security forces demanded compensation of 646,644 rubles, but then reduced the amount of the claim.

The police brought a similar claim against another ex-head of Navalny’s headquarters, Elena Lekiashvili: she was ordered to pay the Ministry of Internal Affairs 296,175 rubles because of the action on January 23.

The courts found both Smirnov and Lekiashvili guilty under the article on organizing an uncoordinated action (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code) in the wake of the winter protests, in connection with which the police demanded compensation from the oppositionists.

The police filed the same lawsuits in other cities - Penza , Ufa , Kirov , Kemerovo , Omsk and Chelyabinsk .

• After the arrest of politician Alexei Navalny, a series of protests took place across Russia. Mass rallies took place on Saturday, January 23, Sunday, January 31, and February 2, the day the politician’s suspended sentence was replaced with a real one. Security forces reacted harshly to the protests: on January 23, more than 4,000 people were detained, on January 31, more than 5,500 , and on February 2, more than 1,400 people .
• On June 9, 2021, the Moscow City Court recognized the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), the Foundation for the Protection of Citizens' Rights (FZPG) and the headquarters of Alexei Navalny as extremist organizations.